noun (plural toppies)

When he (an old De La Sallian who became a noted chemist and mayor of Molteno and is now retired in Port Elizabeth) and I went to the last Old Boys dinner we attended, I said to him, ‘But where are all the old ‘toppies’?’

An old toppie from the Vatican of all places stood up and said: ‘I have listened to all the problems all morning, but… if the country is still functioning after 10 years and farmers are still farming, you must have done something right.’